[aaront]

At some point in the history of this old house I'm working on the attic was converted into a bedroom supported only by 2x4 joists. The 2x4 joists will be replaced with 2x8 to provide much needed support.

The owner does not want to lose an additional 4+ inches in the bedroom but would rather take it out of the main floor below.

I was thinking about notching the 2x8's such that 4" sat on the top plate of the exterior wall leaving the rest of the joist to hang over the top plate. I would then build out the 2x4 wall below the joist another 2" to support the joists. The portion of the joist above the top plate would be tied to the rafter/roof joist. Additional blocking will be added between the over hanging portion of joist such that the shorter built out wall would be flush with the existing top plate.

Anyone out there come across anything similiar or has some advice?

 

[AustinDB]

good luck on this-I'll bet a buck the HO is shopping on this project :-(

forget the extra wall, get a Simpson 'top flange hanger'-the bottom of the floor joist is carried by the strapping across the top of the top plate.

An engineer may be able to tell you if LVL's would be ok w/ being notched out and hung down on the top plate w/o additional support.

 

[aaront]

This is one of those projects that behind every piece of lath and plaster there is a new surprise. House has stood for almost a 100 years though. Something to be said for old growth wood.

I'll look into the shear resistance of the lvl's for this application. Likely not though as there is no ridge beam for the roof so knee walls take a good portion of the weight. Would be a clean solution though.

Probably over thinking this one but top flange hanger creates an axial moment on back side of the top plate. This should be counter acted by the rafters sitting on the back side of the plate though. I'll also have to use a hanger for a 2x4. I'll review the specs to make sure there is enough support for the load from the 2x8 joist.

Thanks for the comments.